Bio-Permutation Sculptures by David Isenhour

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

Bio-Permutation Sculptures by David Isenhour

David Isenhour’s sculptures reflect his interest in genetic research, science fiction, cartoons and popular culture. While the polished pastel forms that hang from the gallery walls strike an initial humorous note, there is an underlying bizarre and ominous quality present in several of the works. Like genetic experiments gone awry the results are sometimes strange, other worldly mutations. Isenhour integrates both human features that he has cast from life with synthetic taxidermy eyes and teeth from various animals. In the work Unnatural Selection, embedded within a mint-green cloud is a grouping of realistic smiling faces. The work comments on the ability of science and medicine to induce happiness through chemical means. In another work, two clenched fists protrude from a bubble-gum pink muscular mass as if wrestling their way out of the suffocating form. The artist sculpts his compositions out of polyiso foam and polyester resin, coats the forms with automotive paint, and finishes with layers of high-gloss urethane. Isenhour combines science fiction fantasy with the possibility of negative consequences resulting from scientific inquiry.

David Isenhour received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Michigan State University and is currently Professor of Art at the University of Central Florida.

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